Before Bethlehem

This book is so very unlike the books I normally read, yet the narrative that this author has created is so evocative that I was quickly and fully immersed in the story. Although I don't consider myself to be overtly religious, at times I shed tears as read along. I find myself wishing he had written just a few more chapters, although I can see why he ended it where he did.While the story does not beat you over the head with heavy-handed morality tales, there are good life lessons within for those who wish to explore them. After the end of the tale, the author included an appendix, breaking down the story piece-by-piece into a logical lesson plan for those wishing to use it as such. Yet the story was so well crafted that those divisions were invisible as I initially read the book.He is an inspired author.

This book is filled with beautiful ideals and philosophical discussions. I loved the conversations between James and Joseph. There are a lot of good and thoughtful viewpoints to take away from this story regarding love, forgiveness, religion, and hope.“God's ways of providing for his people are often misunderstood.” - JosephI liked the exploration of the Biblical world. From Joseph’s farm, to crossing the Jordan, to trekking through the cities, to traveling to Bethlehem, the historical setting was vivid. I thought using Migdal Eder as the place where Mary gave birth was an intriguing idea that was close enough to be probable, since the description of the stable is not very detailed in the Bible (unlike the description of the ark’s size, etc.)."Father’s eyes were lost in the embers of our past; his ears were clogged like the streets of Jerusalem with memories of my mother talking and laughing." – James’ thoughtsI really liked this story, that is, until the characterization of Mary and her influence on the story line began. She was judgmental and simply not a nice person! I expected a little more care and empathy from the stories left to us about her. Instead, there are lots of moments of complaining about the people who were not the same religion and were “unclean.” This got very frustrating. If God chose her to be the mother of Jesus, I would think she would have a more open mind. Plus her relationship with Joseph was never given time to develop for the readers."The clouds gathered around the sun like shrubs, but the rays shone through like yellow staircases to the heavens." – James’ thoughtsA key element that was missing was Joseph’s dream. This was never mentioned in the story. While trusting Mary’s word without divine intervention does speak well of the author’s characterization of Joseph, this missing element distracted me from the rest of the story. I kept thinking, is it going to happen now? Joseph was well defined in the story. He (along with James) was an easy person to follow in the story. So not including this moment was a disappointment. He deserved a divine moment too!“Suspicions and accusations are like smoke, my son. They rise up and spread quickly, and when the fire is put out, the scent of the smoke still lingers. I’m afraid your clothes will smell like smoke for quite some time, and for this I am sorry.” – Rabbi EzraSome concepts were not explained well: (1) I didn't entirely understand the politics that led Joseph to become betrothed to Mary. Plus, when Joseph returned home, it appeared to be all moot? The issue was not really addressed after they returned from getting Mary. (2) There were a few times that pregnant Mary collapsed for no reason. She’d be out for a few moments then wake up. I’m not sure what the point of these spells was, but it was unnecessary. (3) I also did not fully understand the Roman hierarchy. Joseph has a seal from one person, but he can’t show it to this person, but it’s supposed to ensure his safety to that other person… it was all muddled. Including a section for dramatis personae would have been helpful. (4) The story ended abruptly. It did not end the story on a hopeful note. It did not relate back to the beginning, and it did not wrap things up well.Jude: “Father, why does God create moments so horrific yet ones so peaceful?”Joseph: “He already created the river, just like he created the heavens and the earth and the animals. He gave us – all of us – minds with which to think and hearts with which to decide.”In summary, I liked the first half of the story. It was a story of James’ growth religiously and emotionally. The female characters (while few) were not well written. The ending was unsatisfying. However, the book had some good thought-provoking moments. I believe that I would read another story by this author and hope his story would give the reader more character & relationship development.

So here's the thing. If you are not Catholic, and want to read this story, you need to make up your mind right now to accept that this book is going to stray from nearly everything you know to be true. If you read it as a work of pure fiction, you will enjoy it. However, if you read it as "Biblical fiction", you're going to want to throw your Kindle across the room a thousand times. Save yourself the aggravation and just don't buy it if you are looking for something that will line up with Scripture, because this one strays so far from it, and so frequently, that it will be a waste of your money.BUT... if you are willing to read it as simply a work of fiction that is (very, very) loosely based on something resembling the Bible, then cozy up on your couch for a great read. Despite a few typos that should have been caught by the editor, James J Flerlage writes a beautiful tale that brings the characters into vivid focus.Because I am not Catholic, I do forewarn readers what they can expect to find troublesome... So here are the highlights... or should I say the low-lights... and this is definitely not an all-inclusive list.NOTE: The list below may be considered spoilers, although I am taking care to be as vague as I possibly can while still giving the heads up about what contradicts Biblical teaching.* Based on Catholic theology; Mary claims to have known no sin. The book follows the traditional Catholic teaching of perpetual virginity and assumes that Joseph already had a family with a previous wife who had died. His youngest son is almost as old as Mary is.* I suppose this may also be from Catholic teaching, although I've never heard of it, the author portrays Mary as having also been of miraculous birth, and set aside for God's service in the temple from infancy.* Contrary to the Catholic Encyclopedia and many Protestant and Jewish theologian's analysis of the two accounts of lineage, the author is terribly mixed up on the genealogy. Perhaps he was trying to make it more palatable by writing Mary as Joseph's step-father's distant cousin, rather than being biologically closer kin.* Joseph, in this novel, is never visited by an angel. Instead, it is Nicodemus who informs Joseph that the child Mary is carrying is the Messiah.* The birth did not happen in Bethlehem, there was no Inn, and they weren't even travelling to take part in the census.* The whole account of the Magi was incorrect.* In fact, the whole timeline of the events surrounding the birth is all messed up and convoluted.So with all of these inaccuracies, why did I choose to give it 4 stars? Because I read the poorest reviews on Amazon first, and knew that I should not expect it to be true Biblical fiction. I made up my mind beforehand that I would accept the Catholic predisposition. And frankly, because it was one of the most engaging stories I've read in a while.

I am becoming a lover of Biblical novels and learning about the culture of the times and the way such novels can wander through from the facts a bit. This is a story about Joseph taken from the view point of a earlier soon from a first marriage, his wife had died but he had a married soon Simon, one looking to soon be wed Jude and the younger one narrating the story James. There is a great deal that will help to understand the cult of the time which as most well realise I'd very different to Western Europe or America. This way of life can be seen in some parts of our planet earth with some modern twists but still the poor being badly fed by those who have much. As with most novels like this it needs reminding that it is a story linked to the facts but not bound with them completely, i did feel this one missed out some of the wonder and amazement of the Biblical account. I love the birth of CHRIST and the nativity and all the wonder told of in the Bible. As the story is told from the view point of James i guess he may nut have been aware from his viewing point of the reaction of Elizabeth's baby when the expectant Mary entered her home, of the dreams and and visitations of Angels on other occasions than the one recorded in the book. There is a lot of excitement and twists to keep you glued and I did enjoy the read it is a tale and not a full account which in fairness it never claims to be.

We know nothing of Joseph and Mary prior to the birth of Jesus, and very little thereafter. This book gives a very believable account of how Joseph and his family lived and the politics involving the Sanhedrin, Herod and the Romans, all of which seem well researched. My only question is whether the Roman occupiers were as oppressive as shown - in most lands, although they ruled firmly they were so outnumbered that they could not afford to be too tyrannical.The story is of course pure fiction, but how Joseph came to be betrothed to Mary, how the birth came about and the visitations of shepherds and wise men are handled skilfully and you do not have to stretch imagination very far, although the angelic appearances could maybe have been left out. The characters of Joseph, his sons, Mary, and the lesser characters are well drawn.Looking forward to a sequel covering their time in Egypt, return and Jesus's life before he started his ministrations, all of which are equally unknown but could make a good story.

This is a novel based on the Bible story of the birth of Jesus. I looked forward to reading it but the facts were so often so wrong and all the good parts seem to have been left out that I ended up angry and upset and cannot recommended it. For instance the three wise men ended up being a diplomat and his two underlings. There was no mention anywhere of the star which is an important part of the Bible story. It was actually the wise men who went to Herod and alerted him to the fact that a saviour was born, not the shepherds as in this book and so on and so on wrong wrong wrong. The beautiful passages of the messages from the angels were completely misrepresented or completely ignored and not shown in the book so that it was very difficult to understand the story with out a prior knowledge of these.

This is not necessarily a bad book. And a lot of people seem to like it. However, my rating of two stars is simply because I did not like it very much.The basic premise of the book is that it follows Joseph from before he meets Mary and until Jesus is born. It is narrated from the point of view of Joseph's younger son James, which at times does more harm than good. As far as I can tell, it is supposed to be a more historically accurate fleshing out of the circumstances leading to Jesus's birth. I picked it up because I was curious as of to what kind of approach this would mean, and how the story would develop. And right from the get-go, it seemed to take on a very realistic quality, and the obvious historic alterations (e.g. the inclusion of Joseph's family before Mary, the treatment of Jews vs Romans) which made me wonder if it would take the path of describing Jesus as a historic personality, but without the distinct spiritual presence of angels and prophecies and so on. Well, it did not. The last part of the book suddenly introduces messengers from above, but their presence is not ambiguous enough about it for it to be a literary ploy open for interpretation. This seemed very much in contrast with the rest of the book, in my opinion.Not that the rest of the book is not spiritual; in fact, the book can be summed up as two things. The first is travel, traveling back and forth between cities and villages. So much travel. While I understand that this was a necessity at the time, it just seems so redundant at times, especially when the events between the travels actually take up less time in the book itself than the travels do. The second aspect of the book is religious talk. Again, I suppose it is meant to be characteristic of the community and characters at the time, but it just seems so overdone and the characters seem to have very little else to talk about. Every other sentence in the dialogue is a reference to God or God's will, especially between Joseph and James, the two central characters of the book. And while this would have been completely fine, even interesting and reflective in moderation, the sheer excessiveness of it all just makes it annoying. Which is a real shame, because many of the proverbs or ideas shown are actually great, not only in words and meaning, but also as philosophical pearls. I would have enjoyed these moments a lot more if they came less frequently, allowing you to really appreciate the good parts, and maybe sorting out the meaningless repetition of "It is God's will".Similarly, most of the exposition in the book is made through James asking some question, usually directed towards Joseph, receiving an answer, and then proceeding to ponder it for a while. This is applied to everything, from women getting stoned to crops to family responsibilities to religious matters. For a boy that is in his introduction established to be sixteen and legally a man, and compared to his slightly older brother, James seems very clueless and ignorant about the world until the start of the novel. Which makes no sense, as he has basically been surrounded by the same world since he was born. Aforementioned older brother even mentions that all James seems to do is to ask questions.Another thing that irked me somewhat was the flat representation of the characters. As a rule, the Jews (including Joseph's family) were presented as kind, compassionate and intelligent people, devoted to God and their family. In contrast, the Romans (with only one notable exception) are shown to be cruel barbarians. The biggest saint of the book is Joseph, followed by James and Mary, although the latter does have some moments of questionable behavior. The other characters, the ones that actually have some depths and flaws, are barely fleshed out and even downright ignored at times, with people such as James's brother and the scribe Nicodemus more or less only thrown in once they are helpful in moving the plot forwards.This characterization may be on purpose, as with the overly religious dialogue and reflections, to highlight how the story is perceived and told by James. However, I don't buy it. To the extent that these ploys are used in this novel, it just becomes too over-the-top and disrupting to the read, making the experience less enjoyable than if they had been slightly more moderate. If this review makes it sound like I am critical of religion, religious literature or critical interpretations, that is not at all the case - I am in fact very open to such concepts, which is why I picked up this book with high hopes. However, these elements impede my pleasure of reading the novel, which is why I am only giving it two stars. I was not convinced.

I really enjoyed this book. It felt as though the details of life under Roman occupation had been well researched and there was a real feeling of the tensions a family might experience trying to earn a living, follow their religion and avoid political entanglements whilst living under the shadow of a powerful foreign invader. I don't think I've ever read another book which speculates on the sort of experiences Joseph may have lived through before Mary came into his life.